Wednesday, August 22, 2012

I'm Talking Back To School on Miss Lovie's Creations

Here's a funny thing I discovered when looking through my archives for projects to share with you: I don't do any back-to-school projects. Or, more accurately, almost all the back-to-school projects I've done are for guest posts on other people's blogs, as if that's the only motivation for me to do anything school-related. And I'm not even saying they're in time for the traditional September back-to-school deadline, either. The few times when I've actually made something for my kids because they needed something for school were well into the school year. Sometimes I was so tardy that I actually finished something (e.g. Emily's preschool backpack) a whole year late,

To me, that was both very sad and very funny. Sad because, if my children depended on my handcrafting skills to ensure they were clothed, they wouldn't be (which is why I buy clothes rather than sew them). But also funny because it seems somehow incongruous with me having once been a teacher and all. I mean, you'd think I'd take this whole school thing seriously enough to be on time for the first day of school, right? Apparently, my superior procrastinating powers disagree.

But there's another deeper, more insidious reason for the lack of back-to-schoolness here in our home: Emily's birthday parties, which always happen within the first weekend of the start of school each year. This means manic preparation beforehand, to the point where it's a miracle if I actually remember to get the children on their respective rides to the correct schools at all on the first day, let alone all togged up in handmade clothes and be-shouldered in handmade rucksacks and handmade lunchbags.

Speaking of birthday parties, Emily's is coming up again. AGAIN! How is one year later already? Remember this exchange from the movie "Tangled"?

M. Gothel: No. I distinctly remember your birthday was last year.

Rapunzel: That's the funny thing about birthdays.... they're kind of an annual thing.

For once, I'm with Mother Gothel.

In an ideal world, everyone's birthday would come only once every two years (preferably alternating between the children with the most closely-spaced birthdays), so we'd all be half our age and the kids wouldn't grow up quite so fast.

This year, though, I'm going to be having quite a bit of fun with the party prep. The only clue I'll give you for now is that my dad would be so proud. But that's a post for another day. In the meantime, stay in the school mood and go check out my roundup on Allie's blog here!

Oh my goodness! I am a new follower of your blog, so I went back and read the post about the messenger bag goody bags. While I am inspired to make my own, maybe I can just wrangle an invitation to your next party...

Hello and Welcome!

I am a gratefully unemployed mom of three girls, all of whom are growing up much too soon! I like piles of warm, fresh laundry, the smell of salt air near the beach where I used to live, making lists, anything round (like heads) and the quiet evenings sitting with the man of the house after the kids are in bed.

Copyright

You are welcome to link to this blog and to any post on this blog and use ONE or TWO photos for that purpose. Do not use photos of my children. You are welcome to pin images from my blog, if those photos do not have my children's faces in them. Please contact me if you want to use the text on, or more photos from, this blog. Do not post my tutorials on your sites. Do not translate tutorials from this blog into other languages on your site. The ideas and instructions in the tutorials are free - but please use them to only make stuff for yourself or for gifts and not to sell. Ta! For more information, this and this might be helpful.